Sunday, October 19, 2008

An industry analyst positions Egypt as the Middle East's clear winner to take advantage of the boom in global outsourcing, already worth an estimated $300bn in 2009.

The report, 'Can Middle Eastern Countries Fulfill the Eastern Promise,' developed by independent technology and research firm Yankee Group, examines the strengths and weaknesses of Middle Eastern markets - namely Egypt, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) - as countries seeking to attract outsourcing dollars to their economies.

Egypt was assessed as having the strongest position based on its young population, sustainable and abundant talent pool of technologically skilled and multi-lingual university graduates. Its geographical position - close to Europe and Asia - coupled with strong government support are also factors which contribute to Egypt being an outsourcing hotspot.

The report highlights Egypt as the only Middle Eastern country generating a significant number of technical graduates and refers to the UN 2007 Human Development Index (HDI) which ranks 177 countries on the number of tertiary students in the fields of science, engineering, manufacturing and construction. Kuwait scored 33; Qatar, 35; UAE, 39; Bahrain, 41; Oman, 58; Saudi Arabia, 61; Jordan, 86; and Egypt, 112, compared to India, 128 and China, 81.

Multi-lingual capabilities are also a key factor in a country's attractiveness as an outsourcing destination. The report highlights Egypt as the 'only truly multi-lingual country' in the Arab world when comparing Middle Eastern countries for the seven key languages spoken in the BPO and ITO sectors. According to the report Egypt has an abundant talent pool of graduates fluent in English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, whereas the UAE, KSA, Oman and Bahrain typically only possess English and Arabic language skills.

Companies using Egypt as a base for software development, technical support contact centers and research facilities include SpinVox, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Satyam, Wipro, Orange, Alcatel, Teleperformance and Vodafone, among others.